This is my last semester of classes, and my last year of undergrad. I'm terrified and excited all at the same time. It's thrilling to think where I might be a year from now, yet it's terrifying to think where I might be a year from now. Ha! I have plans to go back to school to get my master's in either English or administration. I think I'll probably do English first. So, hopefully this time next year I'll already be working towards that.
I also hope that perhaps I'll have a ring on a certain finger that will lead to a lifelong marriage and lots of little ones running around, but I'm content waiting, too. As much as I want to be married, I also want to be prepared to be married. With Wes's job situation like it is (he is no longer a supervisor at Best Buy and was forced to take a major pay-cut because of it), I just want to know that we will both have money on which to survive. I'm sure we would be fine, but I would like to have job and him to have t more stable job, and I'd like to know where we are going to be at that point in our lives. If it's here in Florence, great. If it's elsewhere, fine. I just want to know.
Anyway, other than my thoughts occasionally being consumed by those, I am also chugging along through this difficult semester. Well, thus far, the most difficult thing is the 70 observation hours to complete, but I will do what I have to do to get those puppies done. My assignments don't necessarily seem difficult. I do have one class that requires I read 14 novels. I'm on the eighth one right now. It's all young adult lit, though, so it's not terribly difficult. This is the reading list:
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going
Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
Breaking Night by Liz Murray
Borders (poetry) by Pat Mora
Who Do You Think You Are? Stories of Friends and Enemies (short stories)
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Speak by Laurie Anderson Halse
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Looking for Alaska by John Green
I have three more I'm supposed to read. I read The Hunger Games series in the summer, so I'm probably just going to count that, but if I end up with spare time in the end (doubtful), I'll probably read a couple more.
Other than that, most of my classes have one big project and little else in between, so it hasn't been too bad. I have my first on Tuesday. Whoop! It'll be easy peasy. No big deal.
What has been stressing me out more than anything else is my desire to say yes to everything people ask me to do, even when I know in the back of my head, it is unlikely for me to get it done. I still try. I still fret. I still stress. And...more than anything, I feel bad when I fail at getting it done. I have never really realized it until this year, but I am a people-pleaser. I want desperately to break this, otherwise it will be the death of me. Guaranteed.
I also have a cat now...for those that didn't know that. She is half tabby and half calico. Her name is Pepperann! :) She has also added to my stress (until I declaw her, that is. And don't start on me about how inhumane that is, but you can't convince me of that. Sorry.) Her current favorite pastime? Tearing down the currents in my bedroom. Yep. I just love her.
Daddy called me tonight. :) He's in Hawaii, and it's rare that he calls me, so it's worth mentioning. I was telling him that I wanted to get my master's, which he seemed pretty impressed with (especially for the fact that I want to get two). I also talked to him about how if I my master's in English right after I graduated (like start in June), then I could have the opportunity to go to London in July as a mini study abroad program. I missed out on it this year because I knew I wouldn't be able to afford it, but I sometimes regret missing that opportunity. Daddy actually encouraged me to look into that, which was exciting. I usually feel like I'm doing the right thing is he encourages it or seems proud of it. :) Either way, that was my good feeling for the evening. That, and my cooking skills with honey mustard grilled chicken (wes did that), lemon butter broccoli, and mac and cheese. I always feel good when I cook something. Slowly, but surely, I'm convincing myself and everyone else that I can cook! :D
That's all for now. To sum up, I'm reading a lot, graduating soon, still trying to please everyone, and I'm learning to cook.
Fin.
